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One Woman Proves You Don't Need Sight to Create Art

"If you have a will, I'm sure, one way or another, you'll find a way."

Yaeno White, 72, is legally blind, with just a little bit of tunnel vision. But looking at her, it would be hard to tell — her disability has not stopped her from making and selling ceramics, learning to salsa dance or getting a job.

White volunteers in the audio library at Los Angeles' Braille Institute, helping other students who, like her, are visually impaired.

White lost her sight after suffering a stroke following the Sept. 11 attacks. She worked as an assistant vice president of Fuji Bank at the World Trade Center, and she was in the towers when the second plane hit.

"I thought it must be a bomb exploded," she said.

White made it to safety along with thousands of others, but several of her colleagues were killed in the attack. Two weeks later, she woke up in a hospital in LA, where her daughter lives, unable to see.

"Only thing I remember was waking up at Cedars ... I said ... I can't see anything," White said. 

Doctors told her that her vision would never return. She was only 55.

Eventually, White learned to get around with the help of a guide dog, but she says discovering art was the turning point for her.

"That was my savior really," White said. "I can still do something!"

The L.A. Braille Institute is teaching its students that they do not need vision to experience and enjoy art. It is still possible to create, using their other senses.

White makes and paints ceramics that she sells to raise money for the Braille Institute. For her, this is a way to give back to the nonprofit that she said brought her back to life.

She credits art therapy with bringing her a newfound joy.

"If you have a will, I’m sure, one way or another, you'll find a way," White said.

The Braille Institute is funded by donations from the public and people like White.

To learn more about their free services or to donate, visit their website

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